Gunshot erases a young life

Officials say two boys were playing with weapon at Wilton residence when it went off

By DENNIS YUSKO Staff writer

Published 11:39 am, Thursday, December 23, 2010

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Nicholas N. Naumkin,12, was a Maple Avenue Middle School seventh-grader who spoke fluent Russian and English. (Provided by the Naumkin family)

Nicholas N. Naumkin,12, was a Maple Avenue Middle School seventh-grader who spoke fluent Russian and English. (Provided by the Naumkin family)

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Nicholas N. Naumkin, a seventh-grade honor student at Maple Avenue Middle School, was shot inside 1 Birchwood Drive at around 7 p.m. Wednesday after his friend, also a student at the middle school, unintentionally fired his father?s pistol that he had found in the home, police and fire officials said. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Nicholas N. Naumkin, a seventh-grade honor student at Maple Avenue Middle School, was shot inside 1 Birchwood Drive at around 7 p.m. Wednesday after his friend, also a student at the middle school, ... more

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Gunshot erases a young life

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WILTON -- An immigrant family who moved to Wilton to escape "the guns and gangs" of Brooklyn mourned the death of their 12-year-old son, shot in the head while playing with a friend just two days before Christmas.

Nicholas N. Naumkin, a seventh-grade honor student at Maple Avenue Middle School, was shot inside 1 Birchwood Drive at around 7 p.m. Wednesday after his 12-year-old friend, also a student at the middle school, unintentionally fired his father's pistol, which he had found in the home, police and fire officials said.

Law enforcement officials refused to reveal the identities of the boys, but a school official identified the shooting victim as Naumkin. The boy's father, Yuri, Naumkin identified the shooter. The Times Union is withholding that boy's identity because of his age.

The Birchwood Drive home belongs to Edward and Rose O'Rourke, and Edward O'Rourke owns a permit for a handgun, public records indicate.

The 12-year-old with the pistol thought he was playing with an unloaded gun when the weapon discharged and struck Nicholas Naumkin in the head, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said Thursday in a prepared statement. Naumkin collapsed, critically injured. The shooter called 911, and the county Sheriff's Office responded, Murphy said.

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The Naumkins had reluctantly allowed Nicholas to sleep over at his friend's house because it was nearing Christmas, Yuri Naumkin said. The boy died in Albany Medical Center Hospital on Wednesday night with his parents by his side.

"We moved here because we thought it was going to be safer for our children to grow up," said Yuri Naumkin, who immigrated from Russia to Brooklyn 20 years ago and moved to the Saratoga area around 2006. "We ended up right in the middle of the nonsense."

Yuri Naumkin had gone to the O'Rourke residence around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday to deliver pajamas, toothpaste and medicine for his son's ear infection, but was instead greeted by police sirens and ambulance lights.

"They didn't tell me what was wrong," Yuri Naumkin said. "But by not telling me, they told me a lot. I knew my son was in big trouble."

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Murphy said he and Sheriff James Bowen were investigating the home where the shooting took place, the location of the firearm and how the boy gained access to it.

"This is such a tragedy, especially just before Christmas," Murphy said. "Nothing we do will bring this family their son back, but we owe it to them to thoroughly investigate this case and that is what Sheriff Bowen and I intend to do."

The tragedy led officials at Maple Avenue Middle School in Greenfield to assemble a crisis team for students, Saratoga Springs Superintendent Janice White said. It is not certain whether the 12-year-old who fired the weapon will return to the school, Murphy said.

"Our hearts go out to the family as they cope with an incomprehensible loss," White said. Maple Avenue Middle School Principal Stuart Byrne said seventh-grade teachers at the school were "distraught, crushed, upset."

Birchwood Drive is a dead-end street off Ballard Road in a lightly populated area of the suburban town. The ranch-style home has a large front porch.

The 12-year-old who fired the gun and his parents were cooperating with police, Murphy said. Five cars were parked in the driveway of the home where the incident occurred, but knocks on the door were not answered Thursday.

Birchwood Drive neighbors said they saw police cars and an ambulance at the home Wednesday evening. "They're nice people," said a woman who lives across the street, declining to be identified. "It's a shame."

The shooting could have been avoided if the firearm was locked up or had a child's safety lock, said Colin Weaver, deputy director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. There were 18 unintentional gun deaths of youths under 18 in New York from 2000 to 2007, and 938 nationwide, Weaver said.

"I think it is tremendously important for gun owners to understand that a huge responsibility comes with owning a firearm," he said.

Tom King, president of Gun Owners of New York, could not be reached for an interview.

Nicholas Naumkin had attended Dorothy Nolan Elementary School. In addition to his father, he is survived by a 7-year-old brother, Peter, and his mother, Oksana, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine. The family lives on Knollwood Drive in Wilton. Nicholas spoke fluent Russian and English, excelled in writing and the arts, and had taken ballet classes, his father said.

"He was a beautiful boy, and I'm not just saying that," Yuri Naumkin said. Christmas presents for his eldest son that were under a holiday tree would not be opened, he said.

The grieving father did not blame anyone for his young son's death, but said that he believed that citizens should have access to information about who owns guns so they can decide if they want their children around them.

"While they have the right to have a gun, I would like to have the right to know that they have one in their house," he said.

Times Union Director of Research Sarah Hinman contributed to this report. Reach Dennis Yusko at 454-5353 or dyusko@timesunion.com.